This piece is the first part of Stones in the Body: More Frightening Than Cancer (Yoon Jong-won). The body, figures, and citations follow the manuscript as written.
The position of this chapter is the gateway that passes from the 'calcium execution code' to 'aging and chronic disease.' In the preceding chapters, through the microscopic calcium execution code theory, we confirmed how calcium transmits signals at the cellular level, and the fact that the workings of life such as the heartbeat, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, and hormone secretion are ultimately connected to the entry and exit of calcium ions,
and through the macroscopic calcium cosmic integration theory, watching the great cycle in which calcium is born in the nuclear fusion of stars, comes to Earth, becomes the bones and shells of living things, and returns once more to sea and land, we grasped the sense that calcium is the mediator that runs 'from the cell to the cosmos.'
But now the question grows a little sharper.
What choice does that calcium make inside the human body, especially in the 'process of the decline period of growing old and falling ill,' and what price does it pay? That very point is the domain that the DIAH-7M Aging and Chronic Disease Pathway System deals with.
[Table] The Five Stages of the DIAH-7M Pathway System
| Stage | English | Theory Name | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ① Factor | Factor | DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory | DIAH-FG |
| ② Start | Start | DIAH Trigger Bone Calcium Efflux Theory | DIAH-BCO |
| ③ Lockdown | Lockdown | Calcium Absorption and Microcalcification Double Lockdown Theory | CAM-DLT |
| ④ Manifestation | Manifestation | Calcification 7M Pathological Manifestation Theory | Ca-7M |
| ⑤ Result | Result | 7M Collapse of the Life System | 7M-A |
DIAH-7M is composed of five stages. It begins with ① the Factor, the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel (DIAH-FG), passes to ② the Start, bone calcium efflux (DIAH-BCO), goes through ③ the Lockdown, the Calcium Absorption and Microcalcification Double Lockdown Theory, then reveals itself as ④ the Manifestation, calcification 7M pathological manifestation (Ca-7M), and continues to ⑤ the Result, the 7M Collapse of the Life System (7M-A).
How aging and chronic disease are begun by which factors, and through which pathway they become disease and reach death: the entire domain of the process of decline and death has been organized and established into four core-domain theories and one integrated theory.
And this chapter concentrates on the first of these, ① the Factor of aging and chronic disease.
How 'factors that are treated lightly because they are too common,' such as stress, lack of exercise, overeating, drinking, falls, and infection, converge into the four trigger gates of D (Deficiency), I (Inflammation), A (Acidosis), and H (Hypoxia), and gather in the end into the single exit of bone calcium efflux: explaining that structure as a 'funnel' is ① the Factor, the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory.
Let us look at this in detail.
Introduction: The Last Emergency Exit the Body Chose
K, a forty-five-year-old office worker, has been taking blood pressure medication for ten years now. At thirty-nine, when he first received the diagnosis, the doctor said it was "because of stress." It was a period when a promotion, a child's school entrance, and the worsening of his parents' health all overlapped, so that statement was probably not wrong.
P, a fifty-two-year-old homemaker, suffers from diabetes and osteoporosis together. The doctor explained it as "a common combination after menopause," but P manages the two diseases separately. The osteoporosis medication as osteoporosis medication, and the diabetes medication as diabetes medication.
L, a sixty-seven-year-old retired teacher, after having a stent inserted for angina, was found to have a compression fracture on a spinal X-ray taken by chance. The cardiology department and the orthopedics department each issued their own prescriptions. For the heart, a drug to prevent blood clots; for the bones, calcium supplements and vitamin D.
The disease names of the three people are different. Hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, angina, compression fracture. Five disease names, five labels. But there is one question.
Why do these diseases appear 'together' in one person's body?
K's hypertension and L's angina are of the same cardiovascular system, so they seem to have a connection. But what about P's diabetes and osteoporosis? One is a blood sugar problem, the other a bone problem. And what about L's angina and compression fracture? One is the heart, the other the spine. Why do diseases of such different organs crowd into the same person?
Is it a coincidence? Because when you grow older you hurt here and there, is it a natural thing?
That is not so. It is not a coincidence. These diseases do not come 'together'; they come along 'the same road.' The disease names differ, but the pathway is one. The name of that pathway is precisely the 'DIAH funnel,' formally the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel through which death enters.
Why Stress, Infection, Overeating, and Falls All Produce the Same Result
Let us think for a moment. Stress, overeating, a fall. These three seem like entirely different kinds of problems.
Stress seems like a problem of the mind, overeating a problem of habit, a fall an accident of bad luck. But astonishingly, these three produce the same result.
When you experience stress, cortisol is secreted. When cortisol becomes chronically high, calcium leaves the bones. When you overeat, blood sugar rises and insulin resistance develops. Insulin resistance causes chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation draws calcium out of the bones. When you have a fall, a fracture occurs, and when a fracture occurs, you cannot move. When you cannot move, there is no stimulus to the bones, and when there is no stimulus, calcium leaves the bones.
The starting points were different. Mind, habit, accident. But the destinations are the same. For the sake of survival, calcium leaves the bones like emergency medicine. Is this a coincidence? No. It is because this is the way the human body is designed to defend against threats to life with calcium.
The Disease Name Is a 'Label,' and the Body Breaks Down Along a 'Pathway'
Modern medicine operates centered on disease names. When a patient goes to the hospital, they first receive a diagnosis. It is hypertension, it is diabetes, it is osteoporosis. Once a diagnostic name is attached, they go to the corresponding department. Cardiology, endocrinology, orthopedics. Each department performs the tests appropriate to that disease and prescribes the medication appropriate to that disease.
This system is efficient. The expert in each field provides the best treatment in their own domain. But this system has a blind spot.
A disease name is a 'label.' A label is for classification, not for explaining the cause. The label of hypertension only describes the phenomenon that "blood pressure is high"; it does not explain "why the blood pressure became high." The label of diabetes only describes the phenomenon that "blood sugar is high"; it does not explain "why insulin does not work properly."
The body does not break down by labels. The body breaks down along a 'pathway.'
What is a pathway? It is a chain reaction that runs from cause to result. It is a series of processes in which A causes B, B causes C, and C causes D. Hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, angina, and compression fracture are different labels, but they are different stops on the same pathway.
Let me give an analogy. Think of the expressway that runs from Seoul to Busan. Daejeon, Daegu, and Gyeongju are different cities. But they are on the same road. Arriving at Daejeon does not mean you will not go to Daegu. As long as you are on the road, if you keep driving you arrive at the next city.
It is the same with chronic disease. Arriving at the stop called hypertension does not mean you will not go to the stop called diabetes. As long as you are on the same pathway, as time passes you arrive at the next stop. That is why a hypertension patient develops diabetes, a diabetes patient develops osteoporosis, and an osteoporosis patient develops angina.
What matters is not the label. What matters is the pathway. And at the heart of that pathway is calcium.
The Body's Survival Priority: Protect the Heart and Brain Even at the Cost of the Bones
Why calcium of all things? Why do all pathways converge on calcium?
The reason is simple. It is because calcium is essential to survival. And essential to immediate survival at that.
For the heart to beat, calcium is needed. For the cardiac muscle cells to contract, calcium ions must enter the cells. When calcium enters, they contract; when calcium leaves, they relax. This process is repeated 60 to 100 times per minute. When the blood calcium concentration drops, this rhythm is broken. Arrhythmia occurs, and in severe cases the heart stops.
For the brain to work, calcium is needed. For a nerve cell to transmit a signal, a neurotransmitter must be released at the synapse. What triggers this release is calcium. When an action potential reaches the nerve terminal, calcium channels open, and when calcium enters, the neurotransmitter bursts out. Without calcium, nerve transmission does not occur. Neither thought, nor sensation, nor motor commands are transmitted.
For a muscle to move, calcium is needed. Inside a muscle cell there are protein fibers called actin and myosin. As these two slide against each other, the muscle contracts.
But normally a protein called troponin blocks this binding. Only when calcium attaches to troponin is the lock released and the muscle contracts. Without calcium, the muscle does not move.
To summarize, it is this. Without calcium, the heart stops, the brain halts, and the muscles are paralyzed. You cannot live even one second.
That is why the human body manages the blood calcium concentration with extreme strictness. The normal range is 8.5 to 10.5mg/dL. Straying outside this range creates immediate danger.
If it is too low, muscle cramps, arrhythmia, and seizures occur. If it is too high, one can fall into a coma.
The problem is that the calcium supply is not always sufficient. The calcium coming in through food may be insufficient, or under the influence of aging, drugs, or stress it may not be broken down sufficiently in the stomach or may not be absorbed smoothly in the small intestine.
Also, calcium may be excreted excessively from the kidneys, and due to inflammation or acidosis the body may come to consume more calcium. At this point, what does the body do? It opens the emergency safe.
The bone is the storehouse of calcium. 99% of the body's calcium is in the bones. When blood calcium becomes insufficient, PTH (parathyroid hormone) is secreted from the parathyroid glands. PTH sends a signal to the bones. "Give up your calcium." Osteoclasts are activated, and as the bone dissolves, calcium is released into the blood.
This is a kind of emergency prescription. Because it is better for the bone to weaken a little than for the heart to stop right now, the choice of putting up tomorrow's bone as collateral in order not to die today takes place. And this process, beyond merely being the body's emergency response, is also a principle of survival for reproduction that can be understood within the great flow of the 'cycle' and 'evolution' that nature has created.
But once one enters the decline period, the opposite paradox begins to appear, in which this logic is turned upside down.
The problem is when this emergency prescription is repeated. Once or twice the body can endure it, but when the same manner is repeated every day, every month, every year, the bone weakens as if emptying little by little, and at the same time the calcium that came out of the bone wanders throughout the whole body along the blood and begins to lodge in the wrong places.
The calcium, which was originally supposed to be borrowed briefly during a crisis and then settled again, hardens in the form of 'calcification' amid the repeated efflux and seeps into places it should not go, such as the vessel walls and joints, the kidneys and the heart valves, and the calcification that has once settled in this way narrows the passageways and makes movement dull, quietly accelerating the aging and chronic disease of the whole body.
This is the pathway of aging and chronic disease. Hypertension is calcium accumulating on the vessel walls and hardening. Atherosclerosis is calcium plaque blocking the blood vessels.
Arthritis is calcium crystals accumulating in the joints. Kidney stones are calcium clumping together in the kidneys. Osteoporosis is calcium leaving the bones.
The disease names differ. But the cause is the same. Calcium has left the bones and accumulated in the wrong places.
4. What We Know, but Do Not Know
Everyone knows that stress is bad for the body. Everyone also knows that lack of exercise harms health.
Overeating, drinking, smoking, lack of sleep, a sedentary lifestyle. Even an elementary school student knows that these are not good.
But exactly 'why' are they bad?
"Don't get stressed." The doctor says it, the parent says it, the friend says it. But there is almost no one who explains through what specific pathway stress passes in the body and what result it produces.
"Exercise." All health information says it. But there are few who know specifically what exactly happens in the body when you do not exercise, and what chain reaction begins.
We know that it is "bad," but we do not know "why and how it is bad."
That is why practice is difficult. The vague statement that something is "not good for your health" does not become motivation. If you do not know the specific pathway, you do not feel the substance of the danger. If you do not feel the substance, behavior does not change.
What the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory Shows
The DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory introduced in this chapter shows precisely that "why" and "how." It draws the pathway map of how factors such as stress, inflammation, overeating, and falls pass through the four trigger gates of D (Deficiency), I (Inflammation), A (Acidosis), and H (Hypoxia) and converge into bone calcium efflux.
The fact that our everyday stress and bad eating habits, and a disordered life rhythm, induce Deficiency (D), Inflammation (I), Acidosis (A), and Hypoxia (H) is an established view that is repeatedly confirmed even in medical textbooks. These conditions pile up like small dust day after day, and from some moment onward they accumulate as factors of the body's decline, and those accumulated conditions of decline eventually lead to the four gates (死關門/四關門) that cause calcium to flow out of the bones, and the everyday life that outwardly seems uneventful becomes, before one knows it, the road that pushes the body's survival circuit into 'emergency mode.'
Why the death gate (死關門)? Because when these four gates open, bone calcium efflux begins, and that is the pathway of chronic disease and aging. At the same time it is also the four gates (四關門). Four gateways, D, I, A, H. Every pathway of death passes through one or more of these four gates.
Stress, lack of exercise, overeating, drinking, lack of sleep, falls, infection, surgery. All these factors eventually pass through the DIAH four gates and converge into the single exit of bone calcium efflux. Showing this as a pathway map is the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory.
It is not simply 'bad.' It traces exactly which gate is opened, what chain reaction is caused, and what result is ultimately produced.
And it systematizes these factors into three levels.
The primary factors are problems of the mind and rhythm. Stress, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, social isolation. These keep the DIAH funnel open over the long term.
The secondary factors are problems of habit. Lack of exercise, overeating, drinking, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle. These widen the DIAH funnel a little each day.
The tertiary factors are acute events. Falls, fractures, infection, surgery, hospitalization. These push you through the DIAH funnel in a single stroke.
It is not simply 'bad.' An invisible chain reaction takes place. When the mind keeps the gate open (primary) and habit has widened the road (secondary), even a small fall or infection (tertiary) becomes a disaster that cannot be prevented. This is precisely the process by which everyday factors converge into bone calcium efflux.
The Value of This Theory: From Vagueness to Concrete Action
The value of the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory is clear. Second, my position becomes visible. As I come to check for myself which factors I am now exposed to, which gate is open, and roughly where in the DIAH funnel I am standing, vague anxiety changes from a hazy fog into a coordinate I can grasp in my hand.
Third, the place to block becomes visible. As I come to weigh where I must block so as not to cross over to the next stop, whether I must block the primary factors first or block the secondary factors, the vague "I should get healthy" changes into a concrete action plan to practice this very day.
Fourth, it becomes motivation. When the trailer of the pathway, "if I keep living this life now, I will arrive at that stop five years from now," is drawn before my eyes, the danger becomes real, and when the danger becomes real the choice changes, and when the choice changes the future of the body ultimately changes as well. This is the core that the DIAH Four-Gate Funnel Theory provides.
What This Chapter Will Cover
The goal of this chapter is to organize the entrance of that pathway.
Imagine the DIAH funnel. A funnel is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. At the top many things can enter, but at the bottom they come out through a single exit.
The pathway of chronic disease is also like this DIAH funnel. The entrances number in the tens of thousands. Stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, lack of exercise, overeating, unbalanced eating, smoking, drinking, a sedentary lifestyle, lack of sleep, falls, fractures, infection, surgery. If you list the factors mentioned as causes of disease, there is no end.
But these tens of thousands of factors eventually gather into four gates. D (Deficiency), I (Inflammation), A (Acidosis), H (Hypoxia). This is DIAH. Whatever the factor, it must pass through one or more of these four gates to lead to bone calcium efflux.
And everything that has passed through the four gates comes out through a single exit. It is bone calcium efflux. Whether the entrance was stress, overeating, or a fall, as time passes it converges on the same exit.
In this chapter we will answer the following questions. Which factors enter into the DIAH funnel? By what criteria are those factors classified? Which of the four gates of DIAH does each factor pass through? And, as the most important question, we will examine: where on earth did I begin?
Only when you know this does it begin to become visible which stop you are now standing at, and only then does it become clear where you must block so as not to cross over to the next stop, that is, what the 'handle to grab so as not to tumble down to the next stage' is.
The Structure of the DIAH Funnel: The Entrance Is Wide and the Exit Is One
Earlier we looked briefly at how the body responds when the blood calcium concentration is shaken.
We said that in order to hold the blood calcium steady PTH is secreted, that following that signal calcium is mobilized from the bones, and that as that mobilized calcium circulates along the blood and deposits in the soft tissues, the pathway of chronic disease can begin. DIAH is that answer compressed into four letters.
D is Deficiency, I is Inflammation, A is Acidosis, and H is Hypoxia, each written as an uppercase English-letter abbreviation.
These four triggers are the four gates that disturb blood calcium homeostasis. Whatever the factor, it must pass through one or more of these four gates to lead to bone calcium efflux (BCO).
These are four gates, the four gates (四關門), and at the same time gates heading toward death, the death gates (死關門).
Let us look at how each trigger gate opens.
The D (Deficiency) Trigger Gate: The Bone Fills the Shortfall
The D trigger gate opens when there is a 'shortage.'
The most direct case is a state in which calcium intake is insufficient, or a state in which, even though there is intake, the calcium particles are large and, under the influence of the decline in stomach acid due to aging or of stress and the like, they are not broken down sufficiently and so are not well absorbed, that is, 'deficiency.'
If you avoid calcium-rich foods, or if absorption is difficult because you cannot break down calcium, the blood calcium concentration drops. When it lowers, the parathyroid hormone PTH is secreted, and when PTH is secreted, calcium is taken out of the bones and used.
Vitamin D deficiency is the same. Without vitamin D, calcium cannot be absorbed in the intestine. No matter how much calcium you eat, if it is not absorbed it is of no use. As a result, blood calcium drops, and once again it is taken out of the bones and used.
Lack of exercise opens the D (Deficiency) gate in a slightly different way. Bone is maintained only when it is stimulated. When you walk, run, or lift heavy things, pressure is applied to the bone. This pressure sends a signal to the bone cells. "There is stimulus, so maintain the bone." But if you do not move, this signal is cut off. When the signal is cut off, there is no reason to maintain the bone. Osteoclasts are activated, and the bone begins to dissolve.
We call this D-PH (Physical Stimulus Deficiency), physical stimulus deficiency. It is.
According to NASA's research, when an astronaut spends 6 months on the International Space Station, bone density decreases by 10 to 20%. It is because in a weightless environment there is no weight load on the bones. It is the same on Earth. There is research showing that if you only lie in bed, bone density decreases by about 1% per week.
The D (Deficiency) gate opens in this way. It is a matter of borrowing because of a shortage. Whether calcium is lacking, vitamin D is lacking, or stimulus is lacking, the result is the same. Calcium is taken out of the bones and used.
The I (Inflammation) Trigger Gate: Calcium Is Mobilized to Put Out the Fire
The I gate opens when there is 'inflammation.'
What is inflammation? It is the body's response to a threat. When bacteria invade, immune cells rush in. When tissue is damaged, a repair response begins. In this process, fever, swelling, pain, and redness appear. This is inflammation.
Acute inflammation is a necessary response. It blocks infection, repairs damage, and protects the body. But chronic inflammation is different. It is a fire that does not go out and keeps burning.
Chronic inflammation can begin in many places. It can begin in the gums. When there is periodontitis, inflammatory cytokines are secreted from the gums, and these spread throughout the whole body. It can begin in the intestine.
When the intestinal mucosa is damaged (leaky gut), toxins enter the bloodstream and an immune response occurs. It can begin in the fat tissue. Visceral fat is not a mere storehouse but an endocrine organ that actively secretes inflammatory substances.
Calcium is mobilized in the inflammatory response. For immune cells to be activated and move, the calcium signal must switch on like a switch inside the cell, and major immune cells such as T cells, B cells, and macrophages also depend greatly on this calcium signal. So when inflammation continues for a long time, the body enters a state in which it must keep using that much more calcium, and as a result it tilts in the direction of increased calcium 'consumption.'
At the same time, inflammatory cytokines directly affect bone metabolism. Cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6 activate osteoclasts. When osteoclasts are activated, the bone dissolves. It is inflammation attacking the bone.
Look at a rheumatoid arthritis patient. When inflammation persists in the joints, the bone around the joints melts away. This is not a local phenomenon. Rheumatoid arthritis patients have a high risk of systemic osteoporosis. It is not only the joints that are a problem; the bones of the whole body weaken.
The I gate opens in this way. Calcium is mobilized to put out the fire. As long as inflammation burns, calcium keeps leaving the bones.